The present invention relates generally to communicating via electronic messages, and more particularly to a distribution system for electronic messages using centralized storage and management.
Electronically-communicated messages (xe2x80x9celectronic messagesxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9celectronic communicationsxe2x80x9d) such as email, paging messages, and transmitted documents Dec. 23, 1998 have become increasingly popular and pervasive in recent years. The ability to send an electronic message to multiple recipients provides for quick and efficient communication, and the use of electronic messages has become common in business settings.
While the use of electronic messages provides various benefits, current mechanisms for distributing such messages have various drawbacks. For example, when an electronic message is to be sent to multiple recipients, current messaging systems deliver a separate copy of the message from the sender""s system to each of the recipients"" systems (such as a pager to receive paging messages or a personal computer system to receive email, etc.). Each recipient system that receives the message is then responsible for storing and managing the message.
Unfortunately, this system of decentralized message storage and management creates various problems. One such problem is that each recipient system needs significant storage space to hold the various electronic messages for that recipient until the recipient has reviewed the message and no longer wants to save it. As electronic messages increasingly transport complex forms of data (e.g., an email with one or more other documents attached), the size of the messages and thus the required storage space for them only exacerbate the problem of insufficient storage. In addition, decentralized storage creates problems when non-recipient access to a message is needed. For example, in a business setting it may be necessary for users other than a recipient to have access to the recipient""s messages, such as when the recipient is out of the office or is no longer employed at the business. Similarly, it may be necessary in some settings to create backup or archival copies of all important messages so that failure of a particular computer system does not cause locally-stored messages to be lost. In many network environments, central servers on the network are backed up regularly but individual client systems may not be.
In addition, if a user wishes to ensure that an electronic message be protected from users who should not have access to it, it may be necessary to encrypt the message. If the message is stored on the recipient system, it is likely that the encryption mechanism employed by the recipient may create a further barrier to access of the message by others with a legitimate need for access. For example, a particular user may use a private password or a private encryption key which is not known or available to other users. Finally, there are situations in which it may be necessary to perform an action on all copies of a message, such as if an administrator needs to delete all copies of a message because it is discovered that the message contains a virus.
Some embodiments of the present invention provide a method and system for distributing electronic messages in an efficient manner using centralized storage and management. In particular, the system receives electronic messages to be distributed to one or more recipients, centrally stores a single copy of the message as well as various information about sending the message, and sends to each recipient a short indicator message to notify the recipient that the electronic message is available. The system then tracks and manages requests from the recipients to access the message by permitting access when appropriate, performing activities such as decrypting/encrypting the message if necessary, recording information about the access and about recipient instructions related to the message, archiving the message if necessary, and deleting the message when it is no longer needed. After a recipient receives an indicator, the recipient can use the indicator to access and review the message. The recipient can also provide various instructions about actions to be taken with the message corresponding to an indicator, such as to save or delete the message or to forward the message to another recipient. In one embodiment, after all recipients have reviewed the message and no recipient has currently indicated to save the message (or all have indicated to delete the message), the system then deletes the single copy of the message.
In this manner, centralized storage and management of the electronic messages to be distributed provides a variety of benefits. Since only a short indicator is sent to each recipient, the recipient systems require only a small amount of storage space. In addition, each recipient system does not need the necessary software to save and manage the electronic messages. Instead, the recipient system need only be able to display a message and to send request and message action instructions to the system. In addition, central storage of the message provides easy access to the message when an appropriate authorized user needs access (e.g., for backup or when the recipient is unavailable). Finally, removal or modification of the message can be easily accomplished if such action is necessary.
In one embodiment, the system securely sends an electronic communication to multiple recipients, at least one of whom is unable to permanently store the electronic communication. The system first receives an indication of the electronic communication to be sent and receives an indication of the recipient users. The system then retrieves an encryption key for a server computer, encrypts the electronic communication with the retrieved server encryption key, and sends the encrypted electronic communication to the server. The server then receives the sent encrypted electronic communication and stores a single copy of the electronic communication. The server also creates a notification electronic communication including a reference to the electronic communication and sends a copy of the notification electronic communication to each of the recipient users. Upon receiving a request from a recipient user for the referenced electronic communication, the server decrypts the received encrypted electronic communication, retrieves a distinct encryption key for the recipient user, and encrypts a copy of the decrypted electronic communication with the retrieved distinct encryption key. Finally, the server sends the encrypted copy to the recipient user for temporary storage while the sent encrypted copy is reviewed.
Similarly, one embodiment of the system allows a designated recipient to receive an electronic communication from a server that stores a single copy of the electronic communication. The recipient first receives an electronic communication notification from the server that references the electronic communication, with the electronic communication notification distinct from the electronic communication. The recipient then requests from the server the referenced electronic communication, and receives from the server a copy of the requested electronic communication. When access to the electronic communication is no longer desired, the recipient indicates to the server to delete the electronic communication, and the server after receiving indications from all recipients to delete the electronic communication deletes the single stored copy of the electronic communication.